A question that I get all the time is, “Fabienne, what numbers should I track in my business?” My answer? Track all the numbers you want to grow—and expenses, which of course you don’t want to grow. I’m always shocked that when I ask someone how much they’ve made so far in their business this year or this month, a lot of times they don’t have an answer to that question. For many years, before I had a full-time financial person for my business, I always knew, to the day, how much I had made that month as opposed to what my goal was.

At Client Attraction, we track everything in the business, but here’s where I want you to start. Number one, start tracking the number of clients that you have. Some people just don’t know this number. You need to know how many clients are in each program versus what is your goal of number of clients in each program. (Click here to tweet this.)

I also want you to track your income because what you track, grows. You’ll track on a marketing level so you can measure where you are compared to your goal in any given month and you’ll also track from a metaphysical, “manifesty-y” kind of way so that you know what how much money you want to attract into your business.

Obviously, track your actual income versus your goal income, not just per year, but each month and for half of the year. One of the things that I do midway through the year is I say, “Is my first six months of the year on track or will I reach my goal by the end of the year?”

If you ask yourself this question, “Am I on track?” and it’s November and you’ve got a month left in the year, it’s hard to really ramp up and make the extra money. But if you’re tracking every single month and at the mid-year you can say, “Okay, how am I doing?” You have another six months to really get creative and strategize, so I recommend that you do that.

Track the number of sales that you get. For the Client Attraction Home Study System, I track how many we sell per week because I have a specific goal to meet. It’s a goal that we came up with based on the past and what it would take to stretch that just a little bit. Look at how we are doing with that goal, daily, weekly, and monthly.

You can track sales conversions. If you’re speaking in front of a room of people, are you closing 20% of the room? Are you closing 20% of the people who are eligible to buy? Are you at 50%? 70%?

Get really good at figuring out the percentages because when it comes to having that solid number, you can project it onto other opportunities. If I can close let’s say 50% of the room, then that’s a good opportunity for me.

We track our list size. Right now at this point we are at over 50,000 people on our email list. It’s really important for you to track so you know how many people you have. Track open rates. Track conversions.

Track the number of people who are coming to an event after determining your goal. If you’re not there yet, then you know that you could be doing a little bit more marketing to get the word out.

Track your expenses. One of the things that is not so much fun to do is track expenses, but sometimes when you track expenses you can say, “Hey, this is too much. I don’t want to be spending this much because it eats into the profit of the business.” Sometimes this is a good surprise. You can say, “You know what, expenses are not that high. I can afford to pay just a little bit more for my marketing or client acquisition.” Perhaps you can send another mailer. Perhaps you can invest in your business a little bit more and then it will multiply your business.

The idea is that you want to track everything that you want to grow. And yes, you want to track your expenses too even though you don’t necessarily want to grow those. When you have the numbers, you can sit down and it tells a story about your business. It helps you project your income. It helps you make your decisions in your business.

We make a lot of decisions at Client Attraction based on the numbers. We can measure which campaigns worked really well, which Facebook ads are most effective, which Google AdWords are most effective, etc. We look at cost per lead, cost per order, etc.

Your Client Attraction AssignmentStart tracking the basics, whatever you can handle. Don’t overwhelm yourself, but do what I do. We have a white board in the office that gets updated every single day so try tracking your numbers like that. Or you could have an Excel spreadsheet like I had many, many years ago when it was just me. The idea is do not be in the dark. Know your numbers because you can make decisions from them.

Join Fabienne and for this conversation about inspiration and courage, while you discover “best practices” on how to play big – in your business and your life. Enjoy!

Wife, Speaker, Sister, Daughter, Business Consultant, Philanthropist and Friend. On many days she plays all roles. Other days, just one or two. As the CEO of Idea Incubator, MaryEllen not only recognizes what it takes to be a working mom, she also lives the life and is able to blend all of her roles with relative ease.

MaryEllen is also the proud Founder and CEO of Working Moms Only .com, the world’s leading newsletter and website for the empowerment of the working mom. Prior to founding WMO, MaryEllen was Publisher & CEO of Early to Rise where she was responsible for growing the business from $8 million in sales to $26 million in just 15 months. Before that, she served as President of Weiss Research where she led the company to $67 million in sales from $11 million in just 12 months.

Because of her impressive track record of generating revenues and profits, MaryEllen is known in the Information Publishing world as “The Money Honey.”. She credits a good part of her success to her traditional New York City Publishing career. In New York, she ran divisions at Forbes, Times Mirror Magazines, and Crain’s New York Business and had some of the best direct response marketing and business mentors in the world. Due to her superlative direct response and business building skills and her ability to “channelize” marketing campaigns, MaryEllen is a highly sought- after business consultant, speaker, and author.

Her first book – which she co-authored with Michael Masterson is, Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions For Your Business. It hit #1 on Amazon.com within just 10 hours of its release.
MaryEllen currently resides in Austin, TX with Patrick, her husband of 13 years, and their three beautiful children, Mikaela, Connor, and Delanie. You can usually find them soaking up the sun on the lake or at one of the kids’ sporting events.

She is the founder of The GoodNews Kids, a foundation to house and protect homeless children. She is a board member for the Speaker, Author Networking Group and is the recipient of the 2009 BraveHeart Woman’s Marketer of the Year Award.

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If you are planning a new workshop, one of the first things I advise my clients to do is think about what you want to have happen when it’s over. In other words, whenever you do an event, always have an “upsell” to offer people. I don’t love the word “upsell’ so let me just say what I am really talking about is the opportunity to work more deeply with attendees.

Defining how you can work more deeply with participants once the workshop is over can actually help you determine the workshop’s topic or theme. You also want to give some thought to who you want in the room. The type of client that would be best suited to what you have to offer.

Start by thinking about what your ideal customers want most. Write down all their needs and concerns that come to mind. Then think about how these subjects provide your clients with an opportunity for even deeper learning.

So, I would not only base your workshop topic on this, but also how you position the workshop and market it. It should all go back to what else you’ll be offering to the group afterwards. There are always people who will be disappointed if you don’t give them a chance to work with you further. So, I don’t want you to say to yourself, “No, they’re already paying me.” Many people just want more.

This happened to me when I took a four day workshop in San Francisco. The leader didn’t offer any further work. I really wanted to work with him more, so I was very disappointed.

Truth is, this is a smart way to make a lot more money. When you think about the next step and let that help you determine the whole package, you have created a strategic marketing opportunity. And you give yourself the chance to fully build on one idea, making it even bigger and longer lasting.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
When you start thinking about a new program, remember to take it to the next level by thinking about how you can offer to work more deeply with people. Whatever ideas you come up with, play them out in your mind to see if they have additional extensions on the same theme. There might also be additional products that support the workshop, as well as private coaching or extended group work.

When you extend a single idea, you have the opportunity to make so much more money. This is working smarter, not harder.

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

You’ve come up with a free teleclass you want to run. That’s great! And you know this is an opportunity to promote your programs. You are looking for the way to convert listeners into clients. But how many programs can you talk about and still effectively sell them? You may have a year-long program, a six-month program and a one-on-one program. You might even have more package options than that.

1. Don’t overwhelm listeners. One thing you want to be careful about is not to overwhelm prospects with too many options. Once you start explaining several packages, listeners will likely become confused. And a confused prospect is one that leaves the teleclass without joining at any level. That’s not what you want right?

2. Explain the results you offer. Here’s a simple solution that I have shared with many of my clients to help them fill their programs. Instead of discussing your packages or programs, talk about the results your clients want. The truth is, no one cares about your process. All that matters are the results your prospects crave. By explaining the expected outcome attached to your programs, prospects will identify with and desire those specific results.

3. Suggest a “get acquainted call. To get listeners to convert to clients, suggest that people who are interested schedule a “get acquainted call”. I would just say, “If you want to find out more about my programs, let’s set up a get acquainted phone call,” because in the end, people buy results. They don’t buy a program. This avoids spending time on too many details during the free call and help interested prospects choose the right program for their specific situation. That makes more sense right?

4. Personal conversation builds trust. In addition, your close rate will be higher when you get to speak to individuals privately. This way you can discover their issues and concerns and they will get to know you a little. The conversation builds familiarity and trust, making it easier for them to sign up to work with you.

Create a special link where they can schedule the get acquainted call or suggest they email you now

Follow up right away to help people choose the right program so they can get those results you got them excited about

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

Are you ready to shake things up in your marketing? From time to time, you may want to run a special promotion to create strong interest in a particular program and get a bunch of new clients quickly. Let me share four specific things you can do to spice up any promotion so that prospects get excited and take action right away.

1. Be very clear about the results you are offering. When you run a special offer, your communication needs to be crystal clear. Explain the exact results or solution you are offering so that people can recognize themselves and their needs immediately. When you tap into their pain, and that “do anything-pay anything” place, prospects will be motivated to register and become clients much more quickly.

2. Announce the value of the special offer. People are more motivated when they know how much they can save. When you announce your promotion, make sure you explain the full value of your offer and then the exact amount clients will save when they sign up. This gives prospects a clear idea of why they don’t want to miss this unusual and valuable opportunity.

3. Limit the number of packages. I recommend limiting your offer to a small group. Maybe only five or ten people will be able to take advantage of your offer. This limit creates scarcity and motivates prospects to take action more quickly before the opportunity is taken by others and no longer available. This also works to increase the perceived value of the promotion because so few people will benefit.

4. Limit the time the offer is available. You want prospects and clients to act quickly if they want to be a part of your special promotion. The best way to do this is by having a time limit on the promotion. Make it only available today or this week. The people who are most interested will hop on the opportunity to make sure they don’t miss out.

One word of caution: if you are going to run this type of special promotion, don’t make the same kind of offer frequently. Sometimes my clients get so excited about the results of a special promotion, they want to do it again and again. But this can cheapen your products and make it so no one believes the limited nature of your offer. The last thing you want to do is train your list that they can wait till the next time because you have so many offers like this. This type of promotion is valuable and works because it’s rare, so please keep that in mind.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Are you looking to get a number of clients quickly? Creating a special program that offers a big value can make a big splash with your list of clients and prospects. To be effective, you’ll need to have a list of at least 1,000 people. That seems to be the tipping point for filling programs.

Think about what keeps your ideal clients up at night. What solution would they want more than anything? Then come up with a package that has a lot of value – something you have never offered before. Determine the number of people you want to take advantage of this promotion and how long to make it available. Then announce the special offer in a separate email and enjoy the response you get!

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

Today I want to talk to you about how to manage your clients. Whether you are just starting out or you are at full practice right now looking to multiply, you must know how to manage your clients effectively.

You might be thinking, “What does this have to do with multiplying my business?” It has everything to do with it because when you have a practice full of clients who are all doing their own things, it creates a big stress and drain for you and it’s very, very time consuming. (Click here to tweet this.)

When you have each of your clients behaving properly, and I know that sounds funny, you create a problem-free zone. So managing your clients equals a problem-free zone. And when you have a problem-free zone, you have more time for more clients, more time to market, and more time to make more money in your business.

So how do you properly manage your clients? Again, it doesn’t matter if you’re just starting out or if you have a full practice. If you’re just starting out, you need to come from full practice mentality. Even if you have two clients, you’ve got to pretend that you have thirty-two clients and set up the right systems ahead of time.

My number one tip around that is to be very clear. Start by getting yourself really clear on what your standards are for your business. What are the rules that you want your clients to follow in your business? If you have a telephone-based business, then one of the rules could be that you want them to call on time, you want them to call a particular number and you want them to end on time. Why? Because if they don’t, they eat up into other people’s time, etc.

If you have an in-person business, maybe it’s even brick and mortar, then you need to get really clear on what you want them to do when they arrive. There needs to be rules for everything. You might think, “Oh no. Clients are not going to like rules.” I totally disagree. Clients like to know what the rules are.

In fact, I will share with you that about a year ago, I hired a practitioner for a healing session. I paid up front and waited for the appointment day to arrive. I never got an email that instructed whether I was to call or if she would call me. I didn’t get an email that instructing whether this was a Skype session or phone session. I didn’t even know how long our session was going to be. I didn’t know if I was expected to send something in beforehand and frankly, I was a little annoyed by it. I like to know what the rules are so I can follow them.

What I’ve realized over the years, and I’ve been doing this for a very long time, is the more specific you are about what you expect of your clients, the more they enthusiastically follow the rules. Then you have a practice full of yummy people who are behaving properly as opposed to saboteur clients who create havoc and messes in your business.

So to reiterate, the very first thing that you want to do is set up these policies and procedures and communicate your expectations and rules. I have a Policies and Procedures document that I share with my clients and the rules are stated with kindness and warmth but also some sternness so people know that I’m serious about these things.

The key is to communicate it at the beginning of your working relationship so it’s not something that you come back to a few months later when they’re already used to behaving in a certain way. Here’s the thing. If you get them to do this and understand these at the beginning of your working relationship, even before you get started, you’re likely to never have somebody behave improperly. You can even have them sign off on, “Yes, I understand these policies and procedures.” Then you have a copy of it, they have a copy of it. It’s all good.

But let’s say that in your working relationship with a client, somebody doesn’t show up for a pre-scheduled call or doesn’t pay on time or just goes against one of your policies and procedures, it’s important that you uphold your boundaries. Uphold your standards and your procedures and you remind them that this was something that they agreed to. Again, you have to do it kindly and warmly but the idea is that you must remind them so they get back in line.

I’m going to leave you with a final tip. You always want to play the ‘good cop’ role because if you start chasing clients for money or scolding them for not following your policies and procedures, it’s going to tinge your working relationship. Ideally, you hire an assistant, you have one of your existing team members or a virtual person do that for you so you always stay the ‘good cop’ and they become the ‘bad cop’.

Your Client Attraction Assignment

Define what the rules for your business are when it comes to clients. Write them out and be sure to share them with your clients.

When all of your clients follow your policies and procedures, rules and expectations, it’s smooth sailing. Is it smooth sailing 100 percent of the time? It never will be because you’re dealing with people and each have their own behaviors and quirks and intricacies. You can make it as smooth as possible though and a smoother ride allows you to have a smoother practice, with more room for more clients, more room for marketing and more room to multiply your business.

Sandy Salle, CEO of the Hills of Africa Travel, shares her experience as a Platinum Mastermind client in the Client Attraction Winners Academy.

“I came to the Mindset Retreat two years ago and I didn’t know what the universe was. I didn’t know how to manifest. I didn’t know anything, Now I’m a total convert.

I was working hard doing everything in my business; the itineraries, working late, checking emails and putting the babies in the bath. I felt guilty because I’d be writing an email while they were in the tub. I was pretty sad and desperate.

Back then I set up travel arrangements for honeymooners. Now I work with billionaires, hosts of late night comedy shows and corporate executives and book helicopters, charters and private jets for 20 people at a time. Fabienne kept saying, “You are the African travel expert for the billionaires.” It took me a while to catch on.

So, this is unbelievable, just two years ago I was bringing in only $8,000 a year. But this year, sales hit $1.25 million and next year I’m planning on doubling sales.

As a Platinum member, I discovered a tribe of special friends who helped me build the confidence to dream bigger, play bigger and live bigger. Without them and Fabienne and Derek, I would still be treating this business as a hobby.”

When you are building your business and working on your mindset, your energy is on the rise. You are plugging away, implementing, and keeping your head in the game. You may even be seeking new friends and surrounding yourself with people who share similar beliefs to help pull you forward. But, what about current friends and family who don’t think the way you do and aren’t ready to embrace the new way of life you have chosen?

Choose love and compassion. First, I want to say this happens to me too. The number one thing is that you stay in a place of love, compassion and non-judgment. These differences will come up with some friends and family which is only natural.

Seek commonality. It might seem difficult to interact with those who don’t share your mindset. They may be people who are very close to you and are not going anywhere. So it gets to a point when you just say to yourself, “You know, I love them. The information is out there when they want it. They don’t want it right now so I’m going to love them for who they are and I’ll find things to talk about that have nothing to do with my beliefs.”

One topic I often rely on is cooking. You can share this passion and learn new recipes and tips without worrying about bumping heads on the mindset stuff.

Avoid judgment. With time and effort, you will find safe things to talk about and carry on a conversation. But, keep this in mind, it’s very easy to judge, which doesn’t fall high on the list of 22 emotions. So, judgment is not a good thing and you want to be careful about not thinking you’re better than they are. One of my mentors told me, “Fabienne, no matter what’s going on, they still have a very full life.”

Don’t try to change people. What my mentor said is so true -that’s why I recommend you just live your life and don’t try to change others. Instead, love them and recognize them for who they are.

Add people to your life with a similar mindset. Another important point is to realize that you don’t need to get rid of people from your life to maintain your mindset. What you are really trying to do is add more yummy people to your life. Sometimes, it turns out that the yummy people tend to crowd out the rest. You know what I mean?

Share the love and joy. The key is not to judge because everyone is on his or her own path. It’s their journey. You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make him. drink. That’s how the old saying goes. So focus on the yummy things you are creating and share the love and the joy that comes from that.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Are you butting heads with a friend or family member? Get into a place of non-judgment and compassion. Then think about all the things you can still talk about and write up a list. Next time you see the person, remember that you love them, then talk about one of those topics that will keep the conversation flowing. You may be pleasantly surprised to discover that interacting with those who don’t share your mindset is easier than you think and can still feel really good.

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

A lot of my clients who are just starting out want to run teleclasses. This is a great way to work with a group, bring in good income, and leverage your time. Trouble is, when you are starting out, your list might not be big enough to fill a group.

No problem. I have found when your database reaches 1,000, that is like the tipping point for really being able to sell programs and products. This was true in my business. I want to share three powerful ways to build your list quickly so you can eventually run those group teleclasses for a fee.

1. Start by offering a free teleclass. As people register for your free program, they provide their email address and your list grows. Be sure to deliver an information-rich class so newcomers get plenty of value. You can then make a special offer for your next paid teleclass.

2. Look for joint venture partners. You want to connect with partners who market to the same ideal clients. They announce your free teleclass to their list. As people register, again you get their email addresses. At the end of the free teleclass, announce your next teleclass program for a fee and share a percentage of sales with your joint venture partners.

3. Create an Irresistible Free Offer (IFO). What do your prospects really need to know about? It can be a solution to the problem that keeps them up at 3am. What would they give anything to know? Then market this compelling product in the following places:

A landing page on your site

On your home page

On your Facebook page

Via Twitter

In your LinkedIn groups

On the back of your business card

At speaking gigs

When people want your IFO, they will gladly trade their contact information for your product.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
How big is your list? If you have anything less than 1,000, that’s an indication list building is a big priority for your business. At the beginning of each week, be sure to set aside time in your calendar for these activities. Then, set an intention to focus on list building to help your mind seek and be open to opportunities as they appear.

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.

There are several reasons why I’m a big fan of choosing a niche. The biggest one is it makes your marketing so much easier.

But many of my clients wonder how to choose a niche. Sometimes, people make the mistake of just going for clients who have plenty of money, and while it makes sense to select ideal clients who can afford your services, that cannot be the only qualification.

You want to think about these three requirements to know you are choosing your niche wisely.

1. Is this a group of people who seek out the help of a coach or service provider like yourself?
For me, I’ve realized not everyone who owns a small business is drawn to working with a coach. For example, medical doctors aren’t as likely to work with a coach to build their patient roster. Some types of businesses are just more open to the idea of coaching than others. So I’ve had to make sure the niche I choose is open to learning how to grow his or her business. For example, I have a lot of clients in other wellness businesses like salons, spas, naturopaths, massage therapists, acupuncturists, etc. This sector of health and wellness readily seeks to build their practice.

2. Is the target large enough to provide plenty of prospects?
You want to make sure there are enough people in that group to provide plenty of prospects. Do some research on the web to see who is already serving that niche. If you find coaches who target this same group, that is a good sign. You want a group with thousands and thousands of people who could use your services so you can continue to grow your business. If you choose a small target, you might quickly run out of prospects.

3. What credentials do you have to work with this group?
Of course you want to choose a target that inspires and excites you. But what credentials do you have to work with this group? Do you have:
Personal experience?
Professional experience in the field?
Specific education in the area?
A compelling story involving this niche?

In order to market to and serve a niche, you need a connection to and experience with what they do. This is how you will know and understand their issues and be able to offer sound solutions.

Once you consider these three crucial elements, you are more certain of choosing a healthy niche for your business.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
If you haven’t picked a niche yet, it’s time! Think about the types of clients you most enjoy working with and what types of businesses interest you. Remember to keep in mind your compelling story, experience and strengths to be sure you are well-suited to work with your new niche.

Now, if you’re just starting out and trying to fill your practice in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home Study System™ gives you the most important things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new clients. It’s all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step one of the system, and when you’re done with that, you move on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter. Easy. You can get it at TheClientAttractionSystem.com.